Are Your Students — And Your College — Leaving Money on the Table?
An additional source of funding that may be available for certain vocational courses offered at many community colleges are tuition vouchers from your local workforce development agency or One-Stop Career Centers.
Foreign-educated immigrants who are legally authorized to work in the U.S. and who are interested in training in certain high-demand technical fields may be eligible for free training vouchers under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) (the successor to the Workforce Investment Act). These vouchers can be used to pay for college coursework if your college is an eligible training provider.
Eligibility for Financial Aid
SUNY Orange County Community College website includes a section that explains to prospective students that if they qualify as unemployed or displaced workers, they may be eligible to receive money to cover the cost of select courses and certificate programs.
The “Check Out A College” web page maintained by the Community & Technical Colleges of Washington State carefully spells out the eligibility criteria for Worker Retraining benefits, and makes it easy for prospective students to contact a worker retraining specialist at each of its campuses.
If your college is an eligible WIOA training provider, does your website invite students to learn more and to follow-up to find out if they are eligible for WIOA training vouchers? Learn more about WIOA.